Upholstery-frame attachment



June 24, 1930. s. L. WARREN UPHOLSTERY FRAME ATTACHMENT Filed May 20, 1929 I 4 J JI I' Patented June 24, 1930 SIMON IKWABBEN, OF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS UPHOLSTERY-FRAME ATTACHMENT Application filed May 20, 1929. Serial No. 364,405.

This invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of upholstered furniture of the general type which includes a wood frame, to the bottom side of which a series of interwoven strips of webbing are attached by nails or tacks, after being drawn as tightly as practical, and on which a series of ordinary coil, or helical springs are seated and secured. v

In my Patent No. 1,737,815 of December 3rd, 1929-, means are shown whereby a stiff wire or rod is supported by a series of hooks, which are separately attached to the inner side of the frame, so that the downward force on the webbing is primarily resisted by the wire and the webbing is drawn upwardly about the inner lower corner of the frame, so that all downward force on the headset the tacks which attach the webbing to the frame is relieved, and the ull thereon is at right angles thereto, an in my Patent #1,754,921 of April 15, 1930, means are disclosed for attaching the spring retaining I cords to the top portion of the frame in a manner to prevent cutting or wearing of the cords by being drawn into contact with the frame or their securing means, the means for holding the wire in webbing supporting position and that for attaching the cords to the frame, disclosed in said patents, being separate devices which must be separate y aplied. p In practice, the most satisfactory method of securing the webbing supporting wire in position by the hooks is to press the wire upwardly against the under side of the webbing and while thus held, to attach the hook to the 7 frame by driving a nail therethru into the frame. The results secured are, however, liable to be somewhat unsatisfactory, due to the fact that the workman, in attaching the hooks to the frame by nails, is liable, for va rious reasons, to attach them at different heights .with relation to the bottom side of the frame, so that the wire will not be supported uniformly at all oints, and, consequently, the webbing is iable to be drawn upwardly to an insufiicient extentat some points to relieve the tacks of all downward strain at such points.

The primary objects of the present invention are to provide a single device, which, when in position on the frame, will act to sustain the webbing supporting wire and will also provide a suitable means for attaching the spring restraining cords. to the frame, and which may be secured to the frame without difficulty at the time the webbing supporting wire is placed in position, and will insure the support of the wire at a uniform level throughout, and which may be manufactured at less expense than the two devices separately, so that a saving in labor and invcost of appliances may be made.

A further object is to provide an improved form of webbing sup orting means.

I accomplish these 0 jects by means of the construction hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of an upholstery frame to which an attachment embodying my invention has been applied.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a portiorli of said frame on a somewhat enlarged sca e.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the attachment.

Figs l and 5 are detail views thereof.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of a portion of the webbing supporting means.

In the drawing, a common'form of wooden upholstery frame 1 is indicated, the top and bottom sides of which are parallel, so that the frame is of practically uniform depth, and to the bottom side of which a series of tightly stretched, interwoven strips of webbing 2 are secured by means of tacks, which are driven through the strips into the bottom side of the frame, and a series of coil sprin s 3, are mounted on and secured to the we bing, said springs normally extending for a substantial distance above the top side of the frame.

. According to my invention I provide a series of attachments for the frame, each of which comprises a strip of stiff metal having a middle portion! and having one end portion thereof bent reversely to forman open ing bent approximately at right angles to the middle portion of the strip, to form a sustaining end portion 6, the length of said end portion 6 approximatin to the width of the material of which the rame is made.

The portion 7, intermediate said end portion 6 and the middle portion 4, at thev vertex of the angle included therebetween, is bent about one side portion of a stiff wire ring 8, so that the latter is pivotally connected thereto in position to swing1 about an axis, which is at right angles to t e strip. Holes 9 and 10 for attaching nails are formed in the strip, in the middle of the portions 6 and 4 respectively.

A rigid metal frame is provided, which is formed from a stifi wire 11, bent to fit within the frame close to the inner sides thereof, the

end portions of the wire being arranged in alignment, with their ends nearly in abutment, and being connected by a sleeve coupling 12 of thin metal, which is laced on the end portions of the wire an clamped thereto, so that a continuous rigid frame is formed, as shown in F igs. 1 and 5.

In applying the above described devices, a metal frame 11 having been made to fit within the wood frame, it is placed in position against the bottom side of the webbing. Upward pressure is then applied thereto, as by forcing the frame 1 downward while the wire frame is held against a suitable abutment, as indicated in Fig. 5, thus drawing the webbing upward about the inner lower corner of the frame 1, so that the portion of the webbing within the frame will be held slightly above the level of its bottom side. The attachments are then passed between adjacent strips of webbing and their hooks 5 are hooked onto the wire frame, and then the endportions 6 thereof are passed over the top edge of frame 1, as indicated in Fig. 5, until the middle portion 4 is forced into engagement with the inner side of the frame 1. Tacks are then driven through the holes 10 and 9, securing each attachment in position, as shown in Fig. 4.

In constructing the attachment, the angle between the middle portion 4 and end portion 6 is preferably made slightly obtuse, so that, after the book has been engaged with the wire, said end portion 6 may be more readily passed onto the top side of the frame, and after the middle portion has been forced against the inner side of the frame, said end portion will be drawn down into a right angular position by the securing nail, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The length of the depending portion of each attachment is made to correspond to the height of the frame 1 from top to bottom, so that, when the end portions 6 of a series of said attachments are engaged with the top of the frame 1', the books 5 thereof will be held at a uniform level with relation to the under side of the frame.

permits, and, when in frame will be engaged with all the webbing Consequently, the wire frame will be supported in parallelism with the bottom side of the frame and will draw the webbing upward about the inner corner of the frame 1 to the desired extent at all points, so that it will be uniformly supported. The extent to which it is drawn up is unimportant, and, in practice, is slight, the fact that each strip is drawn upward to some extent being suflicient.

In practice the attachments are placed between each strip of webbing, as indicated in Fig. 1, if the construction of the wood frame osition, the wire strips adjacent each end, so that the reater portion of the weight which is appliec to the webbing will be initially supported by the metal frame, which will be uniformly supported at all points as above described, and will prevent the strips from being drawn down against the heads of the tacks by which the webbing is secured, the entire strain on the tacks being at right angles thereto.

The end portion 6 of each attachment, by being engaged with and secured to the top side of the frame 1, also provides an effective means for securely holding the hook 5 thereof in a fixed position, and greatly relieves the strain onthe nail which is passed through the aperture 10 in the middle thereof, so'that small nails or tacks may be employed and danger of splitting the wood is avoided.

When secured in this position the ring 8 of each attachment will be pivotally connected to the frame 1 at its inner top corner, and cords, as 14:, will be connected to the upper coils of the springs and to the rings in various ways, so as to hold the springs under partial restraint, all the advantages of the construction previously disclosed being secured.

With the above described construction, the

so that the expense of manufacture may be somewhat reduced, as compared with the cost of making the necessary parts separately. The time saved in the application of the above described attachment to the frame will also be substantially less than that required for the prior devices separately, as it is attached by a single operation.

By providing a continuous webbing supporting frame and rigidly connecting the ends of the wire of which it is formed, so as to make the frame rigid at all points of engagement with the webbing, the effectiveness of the webbing supporting means will be increased, and a uniform supporting action on all the strips will be insured and the construction work will also be facilitated,

I claim:

1. In an upholstery construction including a frame of uniform depth having strips of webbing secured to its under side, a rigid rod engaged with the undersides of the strips adjacent the inner sides of the frame, and a series of uniformly constructed devices for supporting said rod, each comprising a metal strip having an angular portion at one end engaged with the top side of the frame and an elongated portion corresponding in length to the height of the frame and depending at its inner side between adjacent webbing strips, the lower end portion thereof being formed to provide an open hook to receive said rod, and means toattach said devices to the frame, whereby said rod may be supported above the level of, and in parallel relation to the under side of the frame, and in position to draw the webbin strips upward as they extend from the %ottom side of the frame.

2. In an upholstery construction including a frame of uniform depth having strips of webbing secured to its under side, a rigid rod engaged with the under sides of said strips at the inner side of the frame adjacent its bottom, a series of uniformly constructed metal strips, each having a main portion corresponding in length to the depth of the rame and having an open hook at one end engaged with said rod, 3. right angularly disposed portion at its opposite end engaged with the top of the frame, and a metal cordreceiving ring having one side portion thereof enclosed by the strip at the vertex of the angle between its main and it's angular end portions, to provide a pivotal support therefor. N

In testimony name to this specification.

SIMON L. WARREN.

whereof, I have signed my 

